Interrogations are a vital part of police work as this is where the details of any case
are discussed and the parties involved are identified.
In some cases, they can be rather mundane, as the details are pretty straightforward
and the case isn’t a very complicated one.
There are some compelling police interrogations, however, that bring out chilling and often
unnerving details about a crime that was committed and in some of the more successful cases,
police are able to obtain a confession.
5.
Ryan Ferguson
Early on the 1st of November, 2001, 48-year-old Kent Heitholt’s (height holt) life was ended
in the parking lot of the Colombia Daily Tribune.
Ferguson worked for the paper as a sports editor and co-worker, Michael Boyd would later
tell police that he had last spoken to him in the parking lot between 2:12 and 2:20 am.
When the building’s janitor, Shawna Ornt stepped outside for a cigarette, she saw two
men near Heitholt’s car and she immediately went back inside to fetch her supervisor,
Jerry Trump.
The two men were still there and they yelled to the two janitors that someone was hurt
near the car.
They then left the scene via a nearby alley before police were called.
During the previous night, Ryan Ferguson and his friend, Charles Erickson had been attending
Halloween parties in the area and Erickson, having been under the influence of alcohol
and other controlled substances, had no recollection of the latter part of the evening.
When the crime was covered in the media again 2 years later, he began to wonder if he may
have been involved since he thought a composite sketch of one of the suspects resembled him.
He confided in his friends, Nick Gilpin and Art Figueroa and they decided to go to the
police.
He would eventually tell investigators that he believed he and Ferguson had robbed Heitholt
for drinking money and the two men were arrested.
During the compelling police interrogation, Ferguson would state that he wasn’t present
at the scene that morning, but he is repeatedly accused of being deceptive and that his story
doesn’t fit.
Since Erickson had already implicated him in the crime, police found it hard to believe
that Ferguson wasn’t involved and stated that Erickson would seem more credible at
their trial, since he was being more forthcoming.
Despite the fact that he maintained his innocence, he would be sentenced to 40 years in prison.
In 2012, however, both Erickson and Jerry Trump would admit that they had lied at Ferguson’s
trial and after spending nearly 10 years in jail, his conviction was vacated in November
of 2013.
4.
Aaron Quinn
In a truly unnerving police interview, Aaron Quinn from Vallejo, California is seen recounting
the events of the 23rd of March, 2015 when his girlfriend, Denise Huskins was kidnapped
by a then-unknown man.
He explains that the man told him to stay in his house and that there would be cameras
recording him to ensure that he doesn’t contact anyone.
Detective Mathew Mustard who was conducting the interrogation, seems more interested in
the couple’s relationship, however since Quinn and Huskins had been having issues after
she found out that he was still in contact with his former fiancée.
On the evening before the kidnapping, the couple had been discussing a fresh start and
Quinn told police that he woke up in the early hours of the morning after he heard a voice
saying: “Wake up, this is a robbery.
We’re not here to hurt you”.
After being tied up, the couple was placed in a closet and had swimming goggles covered
in duct tape placed over their eyes to block their sight.
They also had headphones placed on their ears with pre-recorded messages stating that they
would be sedated.
After asking Quinn a few questions, however, the intruder suddenly realized that Huskins
was not the woman he was looking for and stated that he had made a mistake, as he was looking
for Quinn’s ex-fiancée.
He then decided to take Huskins for 48 hours, during which time Quinn was to perform certain
tasks while being watched remotely through a camera.
When Quinn asked for a blanket, the man stated that he was wearing a wetsuit and hadn’t
realized how cold it was.
Before leaving, the kidnapper stated that, if Quinn contacted police, Huskins’ life
would be ended.
He would eventually manage to remove the goggles, but the sedative had started to take effect
and he fell asleep.
When he woke up, he found that the man had sent messages demanding two payments of $8,500
and he responded, but when he didn’t hear anything back, he panicked and called his
brother, an FBI agent who told him to contact 911.
Quinn says it was clear from the offset that police didn’t believe his story and even
stated in the interrogation that he knows it sounds implausible.
Detective Mustard would tell him that he didn’t buy his story and that there were no “frog
men” who had entered his house, implying that he had harmed Huskins.
But even when Huskins was released on the 25th of March, police still believed that
the kidnapping was a hoax.
The kidnapper, however, took exception to this and emailed a local newspaper detailing
the crime and telling police to apologize for their statements.
It would eventually come to light that the kidnapper was a man called Matthew Muller
and that he had actually intended to kidnap Quinn’s ex.
He would be arrested and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
3.
Dennis Rader Confession
Dennis Rader, better known as the BTK killer, is responsible for ending the lives of 10
people between 1974 and 1991 in Wichita and Park City in Kansas.
While he was being sought, he would send taunting letters to police and newspapers in which
he recounted the details of his crimes.
But investigators were left stumped as to the killer’s identity and by 2004, the case
had gone cold.
This is when Rader started communicating with local media.
In March of that year, he sent a letter to The Wichita Eagle in which he admitted to
ending the life of Vicki Wegerle (way ger lee).
Wegerle had not been considered a victim of BTK up until that time and DNA samples that
had been collected at that crime scene were now considered vital evidence in catching
the serial killer.
Hundreds of men from the area were tested, but to no avail.
In one of his letters to police, he asked if a floppy disc that he wanted to send could
be traced back to him and they answered via a newspaper ad that it couldn’t.
They did however, find metadata from a document that was last modified by someone named Dennis
containing the words “Christ Lutheran Church” on the disc.
An internet search revealed that Rader was president of the church council and when they
drove by his house, they spotted his black Jeep Cherokee, the same type that had been
seen in surveillance footage at a site where he had left a cereal box in the back of a
pickup truck.
This was all circumstantial evidence, however, and police decided to obtain a DNA sample
from Rader’s daughter.
The results showed a familial match and he was arrested.
During his chilling interrogation, a detective reminds him that there is no way that he can
refute the DNA evidence and after a short pause, Rader finally confesses by saying:
“I guess you guys got me, I’m BTK”.
He would ultimately be sentenced to life imprisonment.
2.
Michael Drejka
On the 19th of July, 2018, Michael Drejka had just arrived at a convenience store in
Clearwater, Florida when he noticed a car that was parked in a disabled parking spot.
He would later tell police during his compelling interrogation that this was one of his pet
peeves and he confronted Britany Jacobs who was sitting in the vehicle.
The car belonged to Markeis McGlockton who was inside the store with his young son.
He realized what was going on outside and walked up to Drejka, shoving him to the ground.
At this point, Drejka produced a firearm, causing McGlockton to back up, but Drejka
discharged his weapon, ultimately ending McGlockton’s life.
During his interrogation, Drejka told police that McGlockton had taken a step towards him
and this is why he decided to retaliate.
He would use Florida’s stand-your-ground law as justification for the incident, stating
that he felt his life was in danger.
Drejka was released shortly after his interrogation, drawing protests and criticism from members
of the community and from people across the country.
When it was later discovered that Drejka had threatened three other drivers with the same
weapon on previous occasions, he was formally charged and arrested, though he denied the
allegations.
Drejka’s trial started on the 19th of August, 2019 and he decided against using the stand-your-ground
law as a defense.
On the 10th of October, he was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
1.
Dalia Dippolito
The case of Dalia Dippolito is one full of deception, lies and video evidence that includes
some very compelling interrogation footage and first-rate police work.
In 2009, Dalia was married to Mike Dippolito, an ex-convict who was out on probation for
stock fraud.
He had continual run-ins with the law after they got married, on one occasion being questioned
after an anonymous tipster told police that he was dealing in illegal substances.
He became worried that he would end up in jail again and decided to transfer the title
of his house to Dalia in order to protect his assets.
But, unbeknownst to Mike, it was Dalia who had made the call and this had all been a
part of a plan that she had devised.
She decided to approach her ex-boyfriend, Mohammed Shihadeh and asked if he knew of
anyone who would carry out a hit on Mike.
He said that he did, but instead contacted police and told them of her plans.
They were skeptical at first, but decided to investigate by placing a hidden camera
in Shihadeh’s car and filming a meeting with Dalia.
On the 30th of July, the two met in a gas station parking lot where he told her that
he had someone for the job and that she could meet him 2 days later.
Officer Widy Jean went undercover, posing as the hitman and their conversation was filmed
once again, Dalia stating that she was 5,000% sure that she wanted her husband done away
with.
She then handed him $7,000 and they arranged for her to be away from the house on the morning
of the 5th of August.
She stated that she would be at the gym, giving her a solid alibi.
As arranged, she left the house that morning at 6 am and police set up a fake crime scene
after informing Mike of what was going on.
They then phoned Dalia and asked her to return to the house as there had been an incident
and when she arrived, she broke down in tears when told that her husband was no longer alive.
She was then taken to the police station under the guise of identifying a suspect and while
being interviewed, Sergeant Paul Sheridan brought Widy Jean into the room and claimed
that he was seen fleeing the house.
Dalia denied ever having seen him before.
But police then revealed to her that her husband was, in fact, still alive and he was brought
to the room’s doorway.
A shocked Dalia can be heard sobbing and asking him to come to her, but he replies that he
had seen everything she did and that he couldn’t help her anymore.
Moments later, Dalia was taken into custody and charged with the solicitation of first-degree
murder.
Following two trials, she would eventually be found guilty and sentenced to 16 years
behind bars.